''Kabumpo in Oz'' (1922) is the sixteenth book in the Oz series, and the second written by

Ruth Plumly Thompson Ruth Plumly Thompson (27 July 1891 – 6 April 1976) was an Americans, American writer of children's stories, best known for writing many novels placed in Land of Oz, Oz, the fictional land of L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel ''The Wonde ...

. It was the first Oz book fully credited to her. (Her first, ''

The Royal Book of Oz ''The Royal Book of Oz'' (1921) is the fifteenth book in the List of Oz books, Oz series, and the first to be written after L. Frank Baum's death. Although Baum was credited as the author, it was written entirely by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It wa ...

'', was credited to

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...

on the cover.) It was followed by '' The Cowardly Lion of Oz'' (1923).

Plot summary

During Prince Pompadore of Pumperdink's eighteenth birthday celebration, his birthday cake explodes, revealing a magic scroll, a magic mirror, and a doorknob. The scroll warns the prince that if he doesn't wed a "proper princess" within seven days, his entire kingdom will disappear. The prince, along with the kingdom's wise elephant Kabumpo, set off on an adventure to the Emerald City so Pompa can marry

Princess Ozma Princess Ozma of Oz, formally known as Tippetarius, is a fictional character from the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She appears for the first time in the second Oz book, '' The Marvelous Land of Oz'' (1904), and in every ...

, the only "proper princess" the Elegant Elephant can think of as worthy of his prince. Meanwhile, Ruggedo the Gnome King (Thompson "corrected" Baum's spelling of "Nome") finds Glegg's Box of Mixed Magic while tunnelling under the

Emerald City The Emerald City (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's ''Oz'' books, first described in '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). Fictional description Located in the center of ...

. He experiments with the magical items inside the box; after he brings a wooden doll, Peg Amy, to life, and makes Wag the rabbit the size of a man, Ruggedo turns himself into a giant. This means that Ozma's palace gets stuck on his head, and in a panic he runs off to Ev with it. After many adventures in the strange lands of Rith Metic, the Illumi Nation, and the Soup Sea, Pompadore and Kabumpo arrive in the Emerald City to find Ozma missing. They set off to find her and eventually meet up with Wag and Peg Amy. The group reaches the edge of the Deadly Desert and is hijacked by the Runaway Country, a conscious, talking, mobile piece of land. It carries them over the desert to Ev. Eventually, Peg Amy is revealed to be the princess of Sun Top Mountain (she was turned into a tree by the evil magician J. Glegg when she refused to marry him, then Cap'n Bill took part of the tree and carved her into a wooden doll for Trot), regains her original human form, and Pompadore marries her.

Reception

''The Charlotte Observer'' declared, "It is a case of 'The king is dead, long live the queen," for ''Kabumpo'' proves beyond any question that Miss Thompson will carry on the fame of Oz created by Frank Baum, and such a fact will become a cause of rejoicing wherever good children are to be found." ''The Minneapolis Star Tribune'' agreed, "There is throughout ''Kabumpo in Oz'' a wonderful quality of imagination, a drama of high adventure that leaves not a single dull moment, combined with a charming sense of humor slightly tinged with satire that brings it into the class of master fairy books." In ''L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz'', Katharine M. Rogers declares that ''Kabumpo in Oz'' is "one of hompson'sbest."

References

External links

*
The novel's text online

Review/discussion of Kabumpo in Oz at Tor.com
* {{oz 1922 American novels 1922 children's books 1922 fantasy novels Oz (franchise) books Books about elephants Reilly & Britton books